Proxmox Virtual Environment — Enterprise Virtualisation Without the Lock-In
KVM, LXC, Ceph, ZFS — every feature. No per-VM licence.
Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a complete open-source server virtualisation platform — KVM virtual machines and LXC containers running on clustered servers, managed from a single web interface. PIP has run Linux virtualisation stacks since before Proxmox existed, and is an Australian Authorised Proxmox Reseller and support partner.
What is Proxmox Virtual Environment?
Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is an open-source server virtualisation platform built on Debian Linux. It combines two virtualisation technologies in one product: KVM, the kernel-based virtual machine, for full virtual machines running any x86 operating system; and LXC for lightweight Linux containers. Both are managed from the same web interface that also handles storage, networking, clustering and backups.
There is no feature-restricted edition. The full enterprise feature set ships in the open source Proxmox Virtual Environment platform — high availability, software defined storage, ZFS, Ceph and software-defined networking are all included on every node. A Proxmox VE subscription does not unlock features; it provides the stable enterprise repository and a Proxmox vendor support pathway. That makes Proxmox VE a genuine alternative to VMware vSphere and Hyper-V for organisations running Windows and Linux servers alike.
KVM Virtual Machines
Within Proxmox Virtual Environment, KVM is the hypervisor built into the Linux kernel. Proxmox VE wraps it with QEMU device emulation and a complete management layer, so any operating system that runs on x86 servers runs as a full virtual machine — Windows Server, Windows 10 and 11 desktops, enterprise Linux, BSD and more.
CPU and Memory
Flexible vCPU topology and memory allocation per VM, with CPU type pass-through for performance and hot-plug of vCPU and RAM on supported guests. NUMA-aware placement keeps large Windows and Linux virtual machines performing on multi-socket servers.
Disk and Storage
VirtIO paravirtualised disk and network drivers deliver near-native throughput for VMs. Disks can live on local storage, ZFS, Ceph or shared SAN, and can be resized, moved between storage backends, and thin-provisioned live.
Live Migration
Move running VMs between cluster nodes with no downtime. Live migration lets you patch or retire servers without scheduling guest outages — the workload simply relocates to another node in the cluster.
Snapshots and Clones
Point-in-time snapshots capture VM state before changes; full and linked clones spin up identical VMs in seconds. Standard enterprise VM lifecycle management, with no add-on licence for full virtualization features.
LXC Containers
Proxmox Virtual Environment also runs containers. For Linux-only workloads, LXC containers share the host kernel and carry far less overhead than full VMs — managed from the same Proxmox VE interface, with no separate orchestration layer.
Container vs VM
Where a KVM VM emulates a complete machine, an LXC container is container-based virtualization sharing the host kernel — denser, faster to start, and lighter on memory. Run VMs and containers side by side on the same node and manage both identically.
Supported Workloads
Linux containers suit web servers, application services and databases — workloads where full operating-system emulation is unnecessary overhead. They are not for Windows guests; those run as KVM VMs.
Templates and Deployment
Pre-built container templates deploy new Linux containers in seconds. Snapshots, scheduled backups and live migration are all supported, so containers get the same data protection as VMs.
Clustering and High Availability
Proxmox Virtual Environment clusters join up to 32 nodes under one management plane, on shared storage or hyper-converged. This is where Proxmox VE clusters earn their place against enterprise virtualisation incumbents — production clusters spanning many servers.
Cluster Setup
Multiple Proxmox servers form a single cluster with shared configuration and a unified web interface. Larger clusters scale to 32 nodes, and automatic quorum management prevents split-brain across multiple nodes without external fencing devices.
High Availability Manager
Proxmox Virtual Environment’s HA resource manager restarts VMs and containers automatically on another node if a server fails. HA groups and priorities let you control exactly where workloads fail over within high availability clusters.
Live Migration and Maintenance
From Proxmox VE 9.2, HA arm/disarm makes planned maintenance windows clean, and a dynamic load balancer redistributes workloads across the cluster automatically. Live migration moves guests off any node before you take it down.
Software-Defined Storage
Proxmox Virtual Environment treats storage as software. Software defined storage, distributed storage and traditional arrays all plug into the same clusters, and multiple backends can coexist.
ZFS
ZFS is native in Proxmox VE — checksummed data integrity, instant snapshots, inline compression and replication, with no additional licence. Ideal for local storage on a single node or replicated pairs.
Ceph (Hyper-Converged)
Ceph runs directly on the Proxmox VE servers, turning local disks into resilient distributed storage shared across clusters — no separate Ceph cluster to build or licence. Hyper-converged shared storage for HA without a SAN.
Traditional Storage Backends
NFS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel SAN and LVM-Thin are all supported, so existing storage investments keep working. Mix shared storage and local storage in one cluster and place each VM where it belongs.
Networking and Security
Network policy lives with Proxmox Virtual Environment. Software defined networking and an integrated firewall are configured from the same Proxmox VE web interface, with no separate appliance to manage.
Software-Defined Networking
SDN zones and VNets are defined directly in the web interface, with BGP and EVPN support for complex, multi-site routing. Networking functionality that once needed dedicated hardware is now part of the cluster.
WireGuard and Multi-Site
From Proxmox VE 9.2, native WireGuard integration provides encrypted site-to-site connectivity between clusters — secure links across data centres without bolting on a separate VPN gateway.
Integrated Firewall
The built-in firewall applies rules at cluster, node and VM level. Security policy follows the workload as it migrates between servers, rather than living in a separate network appliance.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Backup is built into Proxmox VE, and pairs with Proxmox Backup Server for enterprise-grade data protection and disaster recovery. Every Proxmox Virtual Environment install schedules backups of each VM and container.
Built-in Backup
Schedule backup jobs to local storage, NFS or Proxmox Backup Server with retention policies — no extra tooling. Snapshot-consistent backups run with minimal performance impact on production Windows and Linux VMs across your servers, keeping the backup window short.
Proxmox Backup Server Integration
Point Proxmox VE at a Proxmox Backup Server for deduplicated, encrypted, immutable backups. Incremental backups keep storage and backup windows small while protecting every VM and container.
Retention and Recovery
Restoring VMs is granular — whole guests, individual disks, or single files. Reliable, incremental backups plus tested restores are the foundation of any backup and disaster recovery plan, and PIP helps design Proxmox Virtual Environment backup retention across your servers to match your recovery objectives.
Proxmox VE Subscriptions
Proxmox VE is 100% free software with every enterprise feature included. A valid subscription adds the enterprise repository — stable, tested packages — and a Proxmox vendor support pathway. Running with no subscription uses the community repository, where update timing is looser. Every Proxmox Virtual Environment subscription is priced per CPU socket, per year.
| Tier | Annual (AUD) | Support tickets | Response | Repository |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | — | Forum | Community (no-subscription) repository |
| Basic | $624 | 3 / year | 1 business day | Enterprise repository |
| StandardMost production | $924 | 10 / year | 1 business day | Enterprise repository |
| Premium | $1,860 | Unlimited | 2 hours | Enterprise repository |
| PIP Standard ManagedPIP | $3,480 | Unlimited | 4 hours | Enterprise + PIP management |
| PIP Premium ManagedPIP | $4,200 | Unlimited | 2 hours, 24×7 | Enterprise + PIP management |
All pricing ex GST, per socket, per year. Based on $1.67 AUD per euro — subject to change.
View full pricing and inclusions →“The thing about Proxmox VE that people don’t immediately appreciate is that there’s no cut-down version — what you install is the full platform. The subscription isn’t a product unlock; it’s access to the enterprise-tested update stream and a support pathway. For production environments that distinction matters a lot. Running on the community repository means your update timing is looser, which introduces risk on nodes that need to stay up. We recommend Standard or higher for anything in production — not for the feature set, but for the repository stability.”— Brad Dixon, PIP
Ready to deploy Proxmox VE?
PIP is an Australian Authorised Proxmox Reseller. Whether you need subscriptions, deployment engineering, migration from VMware, or ongoing managed support — talk to the team that has been running Linux infrastructure since 1986.